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One of the first QWERTY-enabled phones whose announcement was originally slotted for World Mobile Congress. Cliffsnotes: the 5730 XpressMusic is an appealing and inexpensive music playing offering...

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3GSM congress. LG - exotics and the third generation

3GSM Congress, LG – photos from the stand>>>

For LG, the year of 2005 became the very decisive one, as the company began to aim at manufacturing products distinguishable from the other handsets, though it hasn't brought any considerable benefits so far, this fact alone is worthy of respect. Though this time not so many new models for the mass GSM-market were introduced. Products aimed at the Korean market and 3G models were of the greater interest.

Roberto Cavalli himself assisted the manufacturers in making up the design for U880, that's why the model bears his name - Roberto Cavalli Edition. The difference from the standard variation is the cover plates, painted in various colored zebra's pattern.

The default model U880 has a remarkable design and to a certain extent reminds of toys. The phone is positioned as a musical device, and has appropriate buttons on the external panel. At the same time the handset is presented as a “slim” solution, however its thickness is equal to 18.2 mm . I can easily name a pair of 3G musical devices that feature only 14 mm thickness, so this statement can be related to marketing moves and PR.

Specifications of the U880 (another index - U8500) are simple: 1.3 mpx camera, a TFT-display with the resolution of 176x220 pixels and capable of reflecting up to 262K colors, an external display, offering 96 х 96 pixels resolution (65 К TFT).

One can consider U890 as the successor of the model, since the company introduced here A2DP Bluetooth profile and a RAZR-style keyboard.

The manufacturer places the emphasis on LG-KG920, which offers a 5 mpx camera, using CCD-matrix and optical zoom. At that, the handset's size is rather modest - 108 х 50 х 18 mm, the camera is integrated into the rotary keyboard's block, in much the same as Nokia 3250. Though this solution has become usual for all handsets produced by the company and appeared earlier than the similar one on Nokia's devices. Video recording can be done in VGA-resolution with 30 FPS frequency. The interior display has QVGA resolution and a 2 2 inch diagonal.

KV5500 model is almost a copy from KG920, when it comes to examining the design and has a rotary module as well. The review of this device will be posted on our page in the near future, so for now we are just passing by.

Another 3G clamshell, LG-KU730 with musical features and integrated Bluetooth is nothing more but a middle-end solution, that doesn't have any outstanding characteristics.

Among uncommon devices we can mark U8850, equipped with a TV-receiver.

The model, supporting TV in T-DBM format is going by the name of V9000 with two types of screen orientation. As to the other features, the handset doesn't set the world on fire, and the only major spoiler is an external antenna – a true anachronism.

The European consumers can cast a closer eye on a middle-end slider - KU400/KU405. The joystick here is replaced by a navigating wheel, and besides, the model has a distinct appearance. The phone has a 2 mpx camera, a QVGA-display, 70 Mb of internal memory, Bluetooth and a slot for microSD extension cards. The handset supports Flight Mode profile, which allows one to run the player with the network part disabled. The interface itself is powered by Flash animation scripts. As an addition to UMTS-networks support the device can operate in all three GSM bands.

It becomes a rule for the company to experiment with musical phones on the Korean market - P4700 is a clear example of this activity. This device is armed with Jog Dial technology and its appearance is closer to mp3-players rather than common handsets.

And in Europe these experiments materialized in the form of M6100, which also features an mp3-player design. The review of the model can be found here .

The successor of M4410 model, carried out in a design attuned for cars, F3000 is scheduled for the release in the immediate future – we've already written about this handset numerous times.

Among nice gadgets, we can note a Bluetooth headset that appears to be a pen at the first glance. It has a built in loudspeaker and keyboard – this means you can even dial a number using this device. In fact this an easy-transported cell phone with no display. The idea of creating something like this way is somewhere around for a long time, but I personally doubt this exotic feature is going to be a success.